March 23, 2013

Maybe some quick photo tips?

The wonderful AmericanGirl1972 is a regular contributor of ideas around here, and she just asked if I would post some photography pictures! I was honored that someone would ask ME for photography tips. Because just a little while ago, in January, this was what my pictures looked like:

Ugh. Anyways, I'm not going to draw this out, just going to give you a few tips that really helped me improve:

~Look at other blogger's photography! That was how I started improving. I studied what angles they took the photos at, what lighting they used, and how they edited photos. Some of my favorite photographers are Anna at Doll-it-up.com, Delaney at delliesdolliecorner.blogspot.com, and Emmy at throughtheeyesofadoll.blogspot.com, to name a few.

~Lighting. This is probably the most crucial thing, in my opinion, for taking photos. Artificial lights (aka anything other than the sun that gives of light) will not improve your photos any. It would probably be better to take a picture with the lights off. You can't go wrong with taking pictures outside.

This is pretty nice lighting, right? This is when the sun is shining directly into the doll's face.

In this picture, I turned her away from the direct light, making it look more professional.

~Focus. Wait for your camera to focus in. It could be your doll's face, the background, or her shoes. But blurry photos won't make you happy.

Whooooo. Yep, take a deep breath. :) Whenever I find that perfect photo that I love, I take a deep breath before clicking it. And take several, because you might not be happy with one focus, but another one? You'll be like, "Thumbs up!"

~ Angles. Don't just take pictures of your doll's face straight. Go for a bird's eye view, down to the side, or whatever you think looks best. I don't really like holding my dolls up, because I think natural poses make pics look better. And if you see a great picture with your eye, just remember that it's at a different level than your camera, so if you want that photo to look exactly like you're seeing it, move your camera up to your eye.

This is one of my favorite pictures. :) Angle could be everything!

~Backgrounds: When you are taking a picture of your doll, look for a background that will accent her clothes, her eyes, or her personality. I'm sorry, but I don't really want to see a your cluttered room in the background of your doll picture. I chose my house's rustic wall and an old car that accents her southwestern attire.

I'm not crazy about taking pictures of doll shoes.... I guess unless they're on pianos or cars. :P

Aw, what a cutie. If you want to see some more of my favorite photography, you can find them in these posts: